"This article begins with a literature review of Participatory Photography (PP) that highlights how this tool has been mostly implemented for action research, advocacy, and public health purposes. It shows how scholars have only quite recently begun to recognise its ability to generate change among
...
PP participants. This is followed by a description of the project that was carried out in Kenya, including its background, objectives and daily activities related to peacebuilding. Offering insight into crucial aspects of this work, examples of the photographs taken by participants and related stories are presented. The conclusion is preceded by reflections on the effectiveness, limitations and potential risks involved in carrying out PP projects in post-conflict settings." (Abstract)
more
"Este livro reúne experiências e reflexões de académicos e não académicos sobre as potencialidades dos media para envolver e capacitar comunidades. Ao longo destas páginas, encontram-se textos que documentam propostas educativas e cívicas em torno dos media ou refletem sobre as capacidades d
...
os media para trabalhar no seio das comunidades, incluindo as esferas da infância/juventude e/ou dos adultos e seniores. As metodologias participativas têm uma grande tradição em países da América Latina, de África e da Ásia e estão agora a ser mais usadas na Europa, particularmente, em Portugal. Esta inspiração reflete-se nas diferentes geografias que podem ser encontradas nesta obra, desde Reino Unido, Alemanha ou Brasil, até ao Quénia. Este livro está dividido em quatro partes. Uma primeira foca-se no projeto que deu mote ao livro, o RadioActive Europe, dando conta das suas práticas em Portugal e noutros países europeus. De seguida, juntamos experiências comunitárias e participativas nacionais e internacionais e, por fim, expomos vários caminhos de reflexão em torno da literacia e dos media." (Sinopse)
more
"Im Fokus des ersten Teils stehen transnationale Phänomene wie die Bedeutung des Satellitenfernsehens und der Sozialen Medien sowie die Rolle von Minderheiten, Gender und Islamisten in den Medien. Diese Beiträge geben den aktuellen Stand der Forschung wieder und reflektieren diesen. Im zweiten Tei
...
l des Buches werden in 18 Länderstudien – von Marokko bis zum Irak – die nationalen Besonderheiten der Medien betrachtet, die aus unterschiedlichen politischen Systemen, rechtlichen Beschränkungen, ökonomischen Voraussetzungen und der jeweiligen Soziodemographie resultieren." (Klappentext)
more
"Observing the emergence of public service broadcasting on the eve of colonialism in Botswana (early 60s to early 2000s), the central thesis of the article is that the roots of control of the media in contemporary Botswana can be traced to British anxieties about the possibility of a nationalist rev
...
olution in the protectorate, following political trends of the anti-apartheid black nationalist movements in neighbouring South Africa. To understand the continuing deep-seated fear of letting go of state ownership of particularly Radio Botswana, the Botswana Daily News and Botswana Television (BTV) is to understand the fragility of Africa's postcolonial nation states, and thus its bureaucracies. Common belief has it that because Botswana is ethnically homogenous, it therefore experiences very little threat to its nation-building project, the truth is that stifling debate has been an important function of government control of the media. Even with the advent of social media platforms and their unprecedented influence in African politics (as in the Arab Spring), in Africa broadcasting will remain a vehicle for mobilising power and states seem intent on maintaining that control for the foreseeable future." (Abstract)
more
"This report is a qualitative study focussing on Zimbabwe’s failure and/or refusal to license community radio stations since 2001, despite existing legal frameworks providing for such. It looks at the Constitution of Zimbabwe and the Broadcasting Services Act, the two key pieces of legislation whi
...
ch provide the legal framework for the licensing of broadcasting services. The report also looks at the country’s obligations under international human rights law, experiences of people attempting to obtain community licenses and identifies the gaps that exist between policy and practice. The report is based on field visits to Zimbabwe by Amnesty International delegates conducted in August, September and October 2014 and in March 2015. A total of 29 activists involved in advocacy for establishment of community radio stations were interviewed in Bulawayo, Gweru, Harare, Kariba, Kwekwe, Lupane and Masvingo." (Page 5)
more
"Recent years have seen numerous attempts by community broadcasters around the world to reinvent their practices in an effort to remain relevant and financially sustainable in the digital age. One proposed initiative is to have community programming distributed via satellite, either in the form of a
...
single channel or as a subscription service for local stations to find programming. Combining two case studies and multiple research methods, this article investigates the potential impact of satellite distribution on community broadcasting in Canada and East Africa. We observe that it is often not the community media organizations themselves that are pushing for satellite delivery, but, rather, outside actors such as media corporations and non-governmental organizations. As a result, we argue that a more spirited discussion within the community media sector is warranted to better understand the implications of this technological shift in delivery mechanisms." (Abstract)
more
"[...] Specifically, we argue that development programs with an eye on instrumental outcomes are well-served by the cultivation of an understanding of broader digital practices—of people’s increasingly digital lives. This work explores not only what devices people use, but also how they get onli
...
ne and what they do once there. These representations of digital practices must be fluid and current, given the rapidly changing landscape of Internet connectivity and digital services, and must identify opportunities for new inclusive business models and behavioral interventions. Therefore, this report contributes to the evidence base for development practice and for theory in several ways.
Chapter One offers a sketch of Caribou Digital’s three-part overarching approach to understanding emerging digital practices in context, with an eye specifically on bridging the gaps between development and daily life, and between the micro-level perspective of individual users and the macro-level forces impacting the landscape of digital resources available to them. Chapter Two details results from extensive interviews with experts in the field of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) that help place the current M4D wave in the context of more durable past and future factors. In Chapter Three, our reports on new primary research with users in Uganda, Ghana, and Kenya yield a broader and up-to-the-minute story of how mobile technologies are currently the center of users’ digital lives. Chapter Four concludes the report with a synthesis of these two streams, suggesting that our portrayal of users’ “Digital Days” can provide a user-centric lens to understand how technologies and practices are intertwined, how they vary between contexts, and how they might enable and structure development interventions." (Executive summary)
more
"This article is based on a qualitative study that set out to analyze the labels and terms attached to 28 people affected by albinism in villages in Kilolo district, Tanzania. Even though national and international attention to killings of people with albinism has attempted to improve general knowle
...
dge of albinism and reduce discrimination, most of the community members within the study had little knowledge of the (bio)medical explanations for albinism and tended to marginalize people with albinism. Framed within a wider moral discourse on illness, disability and socially appropriate behavior, albinism is mostly considered to be God’s will or the consequence of past misdeeds within the family, and many of the existing labels for people with albinism express such ideas." (Abstract)
more
"This paper focuses on the contribution of a community radio (Serian Radio) to community empowerment of women among pastoralist communities in Northern Kenya. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 4 divisions for the study. Data was gathered to determine the extent to which women parti
...
cipate in Serian FM programmes, productions that address the various issues facing Samburu women and the challenges faced by Serian FM in addressing various issues facing Samburu women. The paper established that Serian radio has worked to improve awareness and knowledge to solutions of community challenges and women issues in particular. The station has proved to be appropriate medium that has facilitated an interface It is recommended that regular feedback from the listening public is essential in identifying listeners’ preferences and the taste of various listeners segments (youth, women, men, aged, etc) and to avoid politics and religion." (Abstract)
more
"With its emphasis on the lives and interests of upper-middle-class women who live out the success of the African dream, 'Society' [a miniseries aired in 2007 on SABC television channel] has been compared to the HBO drama 'Sex and the City' (1998-2004), with its portrayal of conspicious consumption
...
and highly sexualised representations (Brown 2009). Yet, as a show populated almost solely by black women, and incorporating the particularities of the South African context beyond its glamorous setting in Johannesburg, 'Society' offers a unique perspective on the feminine possibilities available to women in post-apartheid South Africa." (Page 280)
more
"This article critically reflects on how social media platforms such as Twitter (read here as a heteroglossic text and space) enable and encourage public participation in wider national conversations. The article explores this through the work of key bloggers/activists and citizen journalists, refle
...
cting on how they construct as well as enable new participatory forms of civic/political engagement through Twitter. While the platform seems to have created its own hierarchies, horizontal participation is still much greater than with mainstream media formats. The discussion demonstrates the growing institutionalisation of the online space as an important platform for popular expression in Kenya, if at the same time offering an indictment of mainstream media's regime of ‘closure’ to outsider voices." (Abstract)
more
"The five reports that make up this collection are variously concerned with humanitarian aid, social and cultural evolution, crisis response, the mitigation of cultural divides, and political unrest. The themes that bind them are an international movement towards public safety; a trust-based relatio
...
nship between states and citizens; community led social development; and the capacity of social media and big data to make use of, and amplify, the thoughts and voices of under-represented elements of society. Importantly, the reports also begin to question the inluence these violent contexts are having on the development of social media, where communities in crises utilise and shape these new technologies though real-time engagement. The potential of these media is being maximised to such an extent that these platforms are under strain, and developers are increasingly learning how to adapt to the needs of a variety of audiences in volatile contexts." (Introduction, page 6)
more
"This study investigated the political role of the Weekend Nation newspaper in the democratisation of Malawi between 2002 and 2012 within the context of its foundational and ownership structures by a politician. Bearing in mind that the newspaper was founded by a politician belonging to the first de
...
mocratically elected ruling party, the United Democratic Front (UDF), this research sought to examine the impact of media ownership on the political role of the Weekend Nation’s journalistic practices in Malawi’s democratisation. Between 2002 and 2012, Malawi was governed by three presidents – Bakili Muluzi of the UDF from 1994 to 2004, Bingu wa Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) from 2004 to 2012, and Joyce Banda of the People’s Party (PP) from 2012 to 2014 – all of whom were hostile to the Weekend Nation [...] Research findings indicate that overall, the political ownership of the newspaper had no direct bearing on the journalists’ political role in the enhancement of democracy and good governance in Malawi. It established that despite the ownership of the Weekend Nation belonging to a prominent and influential politician, the editorial independence was not compromised. Contrary to general expectations, this study established that the Weekend Nation in Malawi, was critical to the political elite in an indiscriminate manner. Although it was not the focus of this study, the research also showed that market forces, in line with the stance taken by the critical political economy theory, had some impact on the Weekend Nation’s editorial independence. The quest for more advertising revenue, to an extent, undermined the struggle for complete editorial independence." (Abstract)
more
"Our remit was to look for innovative media outlets that are producing high-quality news, that are technologically innovative and that might actually survive financially. Accordingly, we spent three months interviewing media innovators around the world and reading what others have written on the sub
...
ject. This report is divided into seven sections: 1) this introduction, 2) our main findings, 3) two sets of recommendations, one for the media development community and another set for people starting a media outlet, 4) an “Innovation Index” listing practices that we found around the world, 5) a description of our methodology, 6) a review of practitioner reports we read, 7) write-ups describing 35 media outlets, based on interviews we conducted [...] We were inspired and encouraged by what we saw. All over the world, independent media outlets are innovating and overcoming obstacles. Globally, start-ups are demonstrating the drive to take risks for the sake of a good idea. The challenges facing these outlets—and the innovations employed to tackle them—broadly fall into four categories: editorial, business, distribution and security. Operating with agility, media start-ups are finding creative ways to gather and disseminate information. In India, Gram Vaani uses a mobile phone social network to connect the rural poor and circumvent legislative prohibitions on radio broadcasting. In Zimbabwe, The Source survives in the repressive media climate by focusing on business journalism. Oxpeckers in South Africa uses geomapping to report on rhino poaching. Crikey in Australia has built a successful business model based on soliciting tips and scandal from the same audience it reports on and Kenya’s African SkyCAM deploys drones to avoid negotiating with police for access to disaster zones [...] Instead of finding a clear model for what works, we found confirmation of many things we knew or suspected. Independent media outlets vary in size, ambition and model. Few have fully succeeded, while many do one thing well, which typically reflects the founder’s particular strength—usually in journalism or technology [...] Most media outlets we found are small, run by a few full-time staff supplemented by volunteers and freelancers, and supported by a combination of grants, donations and haphazard business endeavors. The leaders at most organizations we interviewed were motivated by a desire to produce high-quality journalism rather than meet particular financial or audience goals." (Executive summary, page 5-7)
more
"In August 2014 Internews launched Boda Boda Talk Talk (BBTT) in the Protection of Civilians site known as PoC 3 in Juba. PoC 3 is the newest site and is adjacent to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) UN House base that contains PoC 1 and PoC 2. BBTT is a professionally produced reco
...
rded audio Humanitarian Information Service (HIS). In order to reflect the voices of the community, Internews recruited and trained community correspondents who themselves had been affected and displaced from their homes [...] A first wave (Wave 1) of surveying on information needs was conducted in August 2014 [...] Since Wave 1, the population in PoC 3 has grown radically [...] Wave 2, was conducted in January 2015 to further investigate the information needs in the area and ascertain the impact and benefit BBTT has provided individuals in UN House PoC 3. In total 319 interviews with individuals were collected." (Introduction)
more
"Tanzanians express near-unanimous satisfaction with the degree of freedom of expression in the country: 96% of respondents in 2014 say they feel somewhat or completely free to say what they think. Two-thirds (65%) say the media should scrutinize the government and report on corruption and mistakes.
...
This is 15 percentage points lower than in 2012. Slightly more than half (53%) of respondents say the media should have the right to publish any views and ideas without government control, a decrease of 20 percentage points since 2012. During the same period, the proportion favouring government control rose from 26% to 44%. A stable majority (65% in 2014, 67% in 2012) trust in the reliability of the news media’s reports. Three-fourths (76%) of Tanzanians laud the news media’s effectiveness in exposing corruption in the government. This is 8 percentage points lower than in 2012. The more frequently a person is exposed to news and the higher his/her level of education, the more likely s/he is to support investigative and independent media reporting, to believe in the reliability of news, and to laud the effectiveness of the news media in its watchdog role." (Key findings, page 2)
more
"By October 2015, the TMF project will have transitioned from being a donor initiative to a new legal entity. Since 2008, the TMF project has been using grants as a way to increase quality content in as well as to strengthen the Tanzanian media landscape. This new strategic plan, which outlines the
...
new TMF’s vision and work from October 2015 to December 2018, continues with this approach. It draws heavily on the experience gained during the implementation of the TMF project from 2008 until May 2015 and particularly on inputs from the 2014 TMF external review and consultations with various media stakeholders [...] This process of engaging with the context and honing in on TMF’s comparative advantage led to the decision to focus on two basic objectives: increasing quality, quantity and diversity of Investigative Journalism (IJ) and Public Interest Journalism (PIJ) products in the media sector; Increasing the professional capacity of participating media organisations and stakeholders. Going forward, the new TMF will also be concerned with ensuring its sustainability. As part of this process, this Strategic Plan outlines major changes that will continue to take place to strengthen TMF as an organisation." (Executive summary)
more
"Edwin Okoth, a business journalist at the Daily Nation in Kenya, has examined whether the recent boom in vernacular radio stations in his country has improved the livelihoods of ordinary citizens. In his research paper Edwin uses a case study of how one vernacular radio station called Ramogi FM, wh
...
ich broadcasts in the Dholuo language, has grown from a regional to a national reach and is now able to reach Dholuo speakers in the diaspora with online availability. He concludes that the gradual growth of the vernacular media has had various positive impacts on the household economy of its audiences who have for a long time been excluded from news items, commercial advertisements and other programmes with the potential for positive changes in their economic lives. Partly based on interviews with producers at Radio Ramogi and their listeners, Edwin finds that many of the positive impacts come from the broadcasting of educative programmes related to economics and business, talk shows with accomplished entrepreneurs, and promotions that create cash prizes never accessible previously to this new audience. Edwin concludes that ‘vernacular radio is pulling these people to the same level as others – from being locked out of crucial information, they are now becoming better citizens able to make informed choices. They are also enabling them to make better economic decisions, expand businesses and generally raise standards of living; but the move is gradual because poor penetration of electricity still means that using dry cells is a new burden to keep the radios on." (https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk)
more
"This chapter explores the South African experience in attempting to achieve a more diverse and representative media that articulate the aspirations of the country, after decades of apartheid which skewed the media towards white people. South Africa has not developed a diversity measurement tool, su
...
ch as the one developed for the European Commission to assess risks to media plurality in member states.1 A key problem the country faces in tracking the extent of concentration and diversity is that it has no ‘objective’2 means of assessing the extent of diversity, which up to this point has simply been ‘read off’ the number of existing media outlets. While a plurality of outlets may arguably be a necessary condition for diversity, it is by no means a sufficient condition." (Abstract)
more